


But I'm Not Afraid to Take You Out

by YMR9



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Just me simping Robyn wearing a bow tie, Love in workplace, but they work together, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:34:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26103505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YMR9/pseuds/YMR9
Summary: “You know, if you like me, you can just ask me out,” Robyn said and smirked at the woman in front of her, making sure to keep her voice down for privacy.“That is inappropriate!” Winter exclaimed sternly and crossed her arms.“How is that inappropriate?”“People who work together shouldn’t be in a relationship,” Winter explained as if what she said was the most obvious fact in the world.--ORLove in workplace can be complicated... or it can just be simplified.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Robyn Hill/Winter Schnee, The Byrds and the Bees, with very very very background
Comments: 15
Kudos: 90





	But I'm Not Afraid to Take You Out

“Robyn,” Winter called out and canted her head to the side as a signal for Robyn to step out from behind the counter.

_Here we go._ Robyn thought before walking over to her boss.

This had become their habit. Winter would notice whenever Robyn’s bow tie was untied and she would ask her to come over so she could fix it.

“How many times do I have to tell you to keep your bow tie up? It’s a part of our uniform and this isn’t a bar,” Winter said sternly while folding the white fabric into a bow. “If you don’t know how to tie it, just tell me, so I can order a clip-on one for you.”

_Like I’m ever gonna admit that._ Robyn said to herself while thinking about how she always asked one of her roommates to tie her bow tie before coming to work everyday. If Winter found out about this, it would be too embarrassing.

“I- I don’t know how it got untied,” Robyn lied, and judging by the way Winter was squinting at her, the shorter woman knew.

But Winter never said anything, never gave her a warning or threatened to fire her. She only pulled Robyn aside and put the cloth up in a bow very neatly, and sent Robyn back to service their customers.

Robyn knew she could not do this forever because Winter would get fed up eventually. It started after Jacques, her previous boss and Winter’s father, left two months ago. Her bow tie fell out of its knot by accident one day and many customers reacted in an interesting way. Robyn noticed how customers, men or women, tipped her more or even flirted with her. She guessed those people were just keen on the bad girl look.

She began to let the tie down on purpose for the tips, which was convenient since Winter only came to the shop three days a week. It was definitely for the tips at first, but now it was mostly for being close to Winter.

Robyn did not know when this crush started exactly. Winter just showed up one day at Schnee’s Coffee House in their barista uniform, which consisted of a black shirt, a white bow tie and a green apron, and Robyn would have thought she was a new employee if not for the famous Schnee’s shiny white hair. Robyn learned from her new boss that Jacques left to Downtown Atlas as soon as his new restaurant was ready to operate, which was very good news to Robyn. She knew she would have thrown something at the man someday or just quit because he was intolerable with his constant yelling and nitpicking. She was lucky to have dealt with him for only two weeks before he moved away, unlike Blake and Yang, two college students, who had worked here way longer before her.

Robyn certainly expected Winter to be like Jacques, but she was wrong. Winter asked all employees to call her by her first name on the first day she arrived. Unlike her father, Winter checked and refilled the stock herself, and even helped clean up during peak hours when there were two people in the shift instead of three. She also set up a table in the break room and encouraged everyone to bring food and snacks to share. And just like that, Robyn started to steal glances at her more and more often, especially when Winter's siblings came to visit because it was when Winter smiled a lot, and what a cute smile she had.

“Thanks,” Robyn said softly after her boss finished fixing her bow tie.

Winter only nodded and turned away, a sign that she would never be interested in Robyn.

But something changed one day when Winter was sick. Robyn knew Winter was workaholic, but the way she was coughing indicated that she should have stayed home.

“Winter, you’re okay?” Robyn asked as soon as the shop was temporarily empty.

“Yeah,” Winter replied after cleaning up a table. “Just a cold.”

“You should go home or just chill in the break room,” Robyn suggested.

“Yeah, we’ll take care of everything here. Don’t worry,” Yang, who was in the same shift with Robyn today, chimed in.

“I’ll be in the break room,” Winter agreed. “Customers wouldn’t like seeing me coughing.”

Of course Winter would think of the customers before herself, and that made Robyn smile.

“I’m gonna make her a drink. Can you take orders for a while?” Robyn asked her co-worker as soon as Winter went in the back of the shop.

“Sure,” Yang said and nodded. “The shop isn’t too busy anyway.”

Robyn quickly whipped up a cup of hot vanilla latte just how Winter used to order when she hung out with her siblings here. Robyn only had a chance to make Winter’s drink once, but she still remembered all the details, which were slightly different from the shop’s recipe. Everything was done except for the latte art, which Robyn chose to make it into a snowflake and she made sure to be delicate while making it.

“Wow, you put a lot of thought into this, huh?” Yang observed with a knowing grin when she saw it.

“Shush,” Robyn retorted. “I know you and Blake are doing it in the storage room.”

Her co-worker gasped and turned away.

_Yep, that shut her right up._ Robyn thought and chuckled.

She walked to the break room and found Winter sitting and reading a magazine on the couch. The white-haired woman’s eyes widened when she saw her.

“Robyn, the shop…”

“Is not very busy and Yang can handle it,” Robyn finished the sentence for her before sitting on the sofa.

She set the cup down in front of Winter, and her boss’ face turned into a shade of red when she saw the latte art.

_It’s probably the fever._ Robyn thought.

  
  
“Th- thanks,” Winter mumbled and asked. “Did you use soy milk?”

“Of course. With a heavy dash of cinnamon, right?”

Winter’s face turned even redder and Robyn realized that it might not be because of the fever.

“Well, thank you, Robyn,” the white-haired woman said and avoided Robyn’s eyes.

“All right,” Robyn said and stood up as she knew this was not the time to figure out Winter’s feelings. “I should go before Yang burns something.”

Winter did not come to the coffee shop again this week, which was understandable since she had to get well. But Robyn missed her and she could not stop thinking about the way Winter got flustered around her that day.

Her boss eventually came back a week later and they resumed their routine of tying Robyn’s bow tie. What changed was that Robyn began to notice a pattern where Winter only called her up to fix her tie when someone started flirting with her. Come to think of it, it had been like this all along. Even if Robyn noticed this sooner, she would have thought it was to keep a friendly workplace environment, but now she was starting to think Winter did this because she was jealous.

She let out a chuckle when Winter finally finished tying up her bow tie.

“What is so funny?” the white-haired woman asked and furrowed her brows at Robyn.

“You know, if you like me, you can just ask me out,” Robyn said and smirked at the woman in front of her, making sure to keep her voice down for privacy.

“That is inappropriate!” Winter exclaimed sternly and crossed her arms.

“How is that inappropriate?”

“People who work together shouldn’t be in a relationship,” Winter explained as if what she said was the most obvious fact in the world.

“This isn’t some business company, okay? And we’re mature and professional enough,” Robyn replied and added. “Besides, it doesn’t say anywhere in the contract that we can’t date.”

Winter was quiet as she was lost in her thoughts while Robyn waited for her response with anticipation.

“Hmm,” was all Winter said before she walked away, and Robyn absolutely had no idea what that meant.

Winter stayed in the storage room and the break room most of the time that day, which made Robyn believe it was a form of rejection. But she barely had time to think about Winter or anything since the shop was busy on this Saturday, and she assumed that Winter and Blake already left when she was closing up later that night.

Then she was surprised to find Winter next to her car in the back alley.

“Winter, I thought you left. What are you doing here?” Robyn asked curiously.

“Saying goodnight to you.”

“Oh,” Robyn noted and said it back despite still being very confused. “Goodnight.”

Winter surprised Robyn again by stepping into her personal space. Her left hand reached up to caress the side of Robyn’s neck and her gaze dropped to Robyn’s lips.

The shorter woman did everything so slowly, presumably to give Robyn a chance to pull away, and there was absolutely no reason for Robyn to pull away. She leaned down to press her lips gently against Winter’s. Their kiss was chaste and soft, but it lasted very long and only ended when Robyn needed to properly breath again.

Winter’s right hand joined her left one on the back of Robyn’s neck to keep her close. The white-haired woman smiled at Robyn, and Robyn felt like she was going to explode.

“Well, that was, umm,” Robyn said in a daze, her hands moving to rest on Winter’s hips. “Good night indeed.”

“I’ve been wanting to do this all day,” Winter told her softly.

“Why didn’t you?”

“I had to read your contract again,” Winter said and looked away shyly.

“Of course you did,” Robyn replied and added teasingly. “Nerd.”

Winter narrowed her eyes at her, but she ended up kissing Robyn again on the cheek.

“I’ll see you on Monday, all right?”

The white-haired woman let go of Robyn, but Robyn was quick to reach for her hand.

“Wait,” she said and looked at her boss expectantly. “If you haven’t had dinner, would you grab something with me tonight? Like on a date.”

“Eager,” Winter replied with a grin.

“For you, always,” Robyn said and winked at the shorter woman, who instantly blushed.

“You’re too much,” Winter remarked while failing to hide her smile.

“I don’t know, I think I’m just the right amount,” Robyn bantered and offered Winter an arm. “Do I have the pleasure of taking you out? There are a lot of nice restaurants around here.”

“The pleasure is mine,” Winter agreed and linked her arm with Robyn’s.

The first month of dating Winter was wonderful. It felt nice to see her at the shop and gave her a morning kiss, and also saw her on some of their days-off. Robyn loved learning more about Winter and she could say that she was falling in love.

Robyn admitted to her now girlfriend on their first date that she let her bow tie down on purpose to get more tips and Winter was kind enough to promise to let her do it for a few hours in her shift. Robyn had been doing that for a few weeks, but it did not feel right anymore, and she planned to talk to Winter about this when they worked on the same day again.

She arrived quite early this morning and stopped at the counter to make a cup of latte for Winter, who was definitely in the break room. This time the art was a simple heart.

She found Winter on the couch as usual and set the cup on the table before sitting next to her. Winter immediately smiled when she saw the latte art.

“You’re sweet,” the boss said and gave Robyn a peck.

Robyn smiled back and got to the point. “Winter, can you tie my bow tie for me?”

“Why?” Winter asked in confusion, but she did start working on tying the white fabric.

“I don’t really enjoy customers flirting with me anymore.”

“But what about your tips?”

“I don’t care about that anymore. It just doesn’t feel right and it’s almost like I cheated on you,” Robyn said honestly while Winter was giving her bow one last tug. She added with a smirk. “And we both know you’re the jealous type, _babe_.”

Winter looked at her for a short moment with astonishment before she crashed her lips into Robyn’s, which caused Robyn to lie back on the couch with her girlfriend on top of her. Robyn was not sure if this was happening because of what she said or because she called Winter ‘babe’ for the first time, probably both, but she was not going to complain.

They went out a few times and kissed a plenty of time, but they had never really made out like this. Winter’s finger tickled down the length of Robyn’s neck and Robyn slid her hands up and down the white-haired woman’s back while their kiss deepened. She was in the middle of figuring out how to flip them over without falling off the couch when the storage’s room door was opened from the inside with a click.

Winter froze and Robyn froze. Then they both slowly turned to look in the direction of the sound and found Blake and Yang who were definitely freezing. A moment passed and Yang continued to stand still while Blake quickly zipped up her own pants.

Blake said as calmly as she could while keeping her eyes on the ground. “Umm, there was this annoying tag in my pants and Yang helped me take it out.”

“Yup,” Yang concurred after she finally found her voice again.

Winter nodded before she sat up and got off Robyn’s lap.

“I, umm, tripped and fell on Robyn,” the boss told the girls.

“Oh, okay,” Blake noted.

Robyn could not help but laugh at the situation, which caused the other three women to glare at her.

“What? This is too good,” she remarked and asked. “Why are we hiding our relationships again?”

“Shut up, Robyn. I don’t wanna get fired,” Yang said frantically.

Robyn shook her head and replied. “You all need to read the contract. It doesn’t say you can’t date a co-worker.”

“The contract is freaking long! Nobody’s got time for that,” Yang argued.

“It’s only seven pages,” Robyn counteracted.

“Nerd,” Winter teased and nudged Robyn with her elbow, which caused Robyn to grin at her.

“Does this mean you’re not firing us?” Blake asked and looked at the boss.

“I’m not,” Winter said firmly and added with a serious tone. “But I would appreciate it if you don’t do… stuff in the storage room. That is very insanitary.”

“Restroom it is,” Yang mumbled.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Winter warned and crossed her arms.

“We’re just gonna go get prepared,” Blake quickly said and grabbed Yang’s hand.

After the girls left to the front, Robyn turned to her girlfriend.

“I should probably go too before they think we’re doing something nasty.”

“Wait,” Winter said and grabbed Robyn’s arm. “My father is coming to town soon. I couldn’t care less what he thinks, but he probably won’t be very happy when he finds out about us.”

“I’m not afraid of him,” Robyn said firmly.

“I didn’t expect any less from you,” Winter said with a smile before giving Robyn another peck. She then announced and got up. “I’m going to check the storage room to make sure it’s not… _contaminated_.”

Robyn laughed and stood up as well. She spoke as Winter was walking away.

“Just another day at Schnee’s Coffee House, huh?”

“Well, I wouldn’t change a thing,” Winter replied and got inside the storage room.

Robyn smiled to herself and silently agreed. She certainly would not change a thing either.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my mutuals on Twitter, I can't get this idea out of my head. And yeah, I really love the idea of Robyn wearing a bow tie if you haven't noticed, lol.


End file.
